Tejashwi calls Owaisi 'extremist'; AIMIM MP asks 'can you write in English?
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Ahead of Bihar Assembly polls, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav engaged in a heated exchange after the latter reportedly called Owaisi an "extremist".
Addressing a rally in Bihar’s Kishanganj, Owaisi slammed Tejashwi, accusing him of borrowing the term from Pakistan and mocking him with the remark, “Babu, extremist ko tum zara angrezi mein likh le (can you write ‘extremist’ in English)?”
What triggered the Owaisi-Tejashwi face-off?
Recounting the episode, Owaisi said, “An interviewer asked Tejashwi Yadav why he didn’t align with Owaisi after AIMIM reached out for a seat-sharing deal for the 2025 election. Tejashwi said, ‘Owaisi is an extremist, a fanatic, a terrorist'."
Owaisi accused Tejashwi of calling him an "extremist" because "I follow my religion with pride". “The one who does not bow down before you, who does not beg, who is not afraid of your father (Lalu Prasad Yadav), you call him a coward? A beard on my face and a cap on my head make me an extremist? So much hatred in you,” he said.
Why is AIMIM contesting Bihar polls solo?
Owaisi’s AIMIM and the Mahagathbandhan, the opposition alliance led by Tejashwi Yadav and his RJD, failed to reach a seat-sharing agreement, leading AIMIM to contest the Bihar elections independently.
AIMIM had sought to contest from six seats but found no takers during talks with the Mahagathbandhan, prompting the party to break away and go solo. Owaisi said he had reached out to RJD leaders Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi, expressing interest in a possible alliance, but received no response.
AIMIM has announced plans to contest 100 of Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats independently. Owaisi said his party would emerge as a 'third front' in a state where political choices have long revolved around Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United)–Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine or the Congress–RJD alliance.
He added that AIMIM was also holding discussions with other like-minded parties to explore the formation of a third front, details of which would be revealed soon.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly election, AIMIM contested 20 seats in alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Upendra Kushwaha’s now-defunct Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP). The party won five seats, all in the Seemanchal region, comprising Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj, and Araria, which has a sizeable Muslim population.
Bihar Assembly elections 2025
The upcoming Bihar polls are shaping into a direct contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Mahagathbandhan bloc.
NDA: BJP, JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), Rashtriya Lok Morcha
Mahagathbandhan: RJD, Congress, CPI-ML, CPI, CPM, and Mukesh Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP)
Polling will be held in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, with counting scheduled for November 14.
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